I strongly disagreed and explained why, but still lost a client over a common misconception, that all there is to research is extracting information from records about a particular ancestor.

The longer I am a genealogist the more I understand how incorrect that notion is. Yes, of course, we must search all the records, but there is so much more to it than that. Solving difficult research problems requires going beyond the initial research phase and looking at the information we’ve gathered in an entirely new light. This idea is, in part, what methodologies like cluster or whole family research rest upon. It isn’t the information we gather that’s important so much as how we use it. If we are content to look only at one ancestor and the records he or she created without analyzing the information found or placing the records (and our ancestors) within an appropriate context, then we deserve what we get: an insurmountable brick wall.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Instead of playing Oliver Twist, with our proverbial bowls held out asking More, please, perhaps we should look at the information we’ve already gathered and see what it’s really telling us. We might discover a witness who was named repeatedly in various documents, someone previously discounted because his or her surname was different, but on second glance we realize, Hey! This person could be a relative! Perhaps a fresh analysis will uncover patterns we hadn’t noticed before, patterns that will lead us back to a previous locality, to records we didn’t know existed, or to the elusive parent…all because we were willing to look deeper.

As researchers like Elizabeth Shown Mills, Thomas W. Jones, and others advocate, we must be willing to wring every bit of data out of every record we find. We must be willing to track down every lead, no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential.

Perhaps most importantly, we must rid ourselves of long-held assumptions about how research is conducted and when it should end. Canvassing a broad variety of records is a necessary part of the research process, but if we stop there and never look at the details we’ve gathered, separately and as a whole, we have missed an opportunity to deepen our knowledge of an ancestor’s life and, perhaps, missed an opportunity to connect that ancestor with the previous generation.

More information, more records, more stuff, isn’t always the answer, but where analysis of that information is concerned, we should always be eager to say, More, please!

Genealogist unearths contribution made by local militia in the War of 1812 from thestar.com discusses the work of genealogist Janice Nickerson documenting contributions made by Toronto militiamen to the War of 1812, and her upcoming book York’s Sacrifice.

Harold Henderson wrote a great article, Climbing the Spiral Staircase, about the learning curve all genealogists experience. I recommend this one to every genealogist, regardless of skill level or interest.

The Boston Channel published an article, Murder Suspect’s DNA Linked to Mayflower Kin, detailing how investigators hope to use DNA to eventually find the person who killed a teenaged girl near Seattle in 1991. Forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick is contributing to the investigation.

If Helen F. M. Leary is the Grand Old Dame of genealogy, then Elizabeth Shown Mills is certainly its First Lady. Mills recently debuted her web site, Historic Pathways, which features a collection of her writings over her several decades as a historian and genealogist.

By the way, if you’re a Georgia researcher and haven’t written your local legislator about keeping the Archives open, it’s not too late to do so. Every voice counts!

Over the past few months, I’ve been trying to update my records and resources web site. I had to leave off through the last three months of 2011 due to computer problems, the holidays, and the newspaper book. During my time off, I managed to get the last of the federal census pages for Rabun County back online, as well as a few miscellaneous records. I’m working on the updates as quickly as I can, now that I have a reliable computer again, and hope to begin putting new records online by the end of spring.

Speaking of new records, I took a much-needed trip to the Register of Deeds in Macon Co., NC, and photocopied numerous deeds pertaining to the Nichols and Ledford clans there. I finally narrowed my certification case study down, and will use those deeds, in conjunction with other records, to prove Amy (Nichols) Ledford’s parentage. I’m very close to having the research done and hope to begin writing the first draft of the case study soon. I’ll also be placing at least some of those deeds online, probably through my records and resources web site.

I’ve also been catching up on my reading: back issues of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, specifically articles dealing with using indirect evidence to solve a research problem and resolving conflicting evidence; the current issue of the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly; and Women and the Law of Property in Early America by Marylynn Salmon (University of North Carolina Press, 1986).

That’s about all the mischief I’ve made over the past week. Monday, I will pick up my regular work, including transcribing Rabun County’s Records of Writ, my next book-length project. The records I hope to include cover from 1836 to about 1858 or perhaps later, depending on how long the text is at that point. Right now, I’m about halfway finished transcribing Book A, and have discovered some fascinating information. Perhaps the most scandalous item concerned two well-known families residing in the Valley area. One family, a husband and wife, sued the son of a slaveholder for slander: the son had told the husband that the wife slept with a slave of the son’s father. Most matters were not as scintillating, but even the mundane items contain wonderful information.

And now, back to my time off…

My five-year plan includes:

• Educational programs I hope to attend.
• Book-length transcription projects I would like to work on.
• An outline of projects to complete so that I can apply for certification through the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• Other projects that will help me become a better researcher and a better professional, like updating my records and resources web site (an ongoing project), writing popular and scholarly articles, and developing lectures on topics of local interest.
• Personal goals.

I’ve divided the above between the next five years, and further subdivided those into what I hope to accomplish each month.

Making concrete goals and having a plan for fulfilling them is an important part of the growth process. I find, increasingly, that merely making of list of items I need to work on doesn’t get me any closer to meeting the long-term goals I’ve set for myself. Hence, the five-year detailed plan.

While I am setting concrete monthly, weekly, and daily goals (especially important for lengthy transcription projects), I realize that I have to remain flexible. As my friend Johnny Parisi says, it’s written on paper, not in stone. However, knowing that I have two and a half years to finish the certification process or otherwise qualify for Elizabeth Shown Mills’ Course 4: Advanced Methodology and Evidence Analysis (given annually at Samford University’s Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research) in June 2014 is a great motivator. In turn, I know that in order to be the best genealogy professional I can be, my ultimate goal, I will need to attend that course and others.

Happy New Year to all my friends and fellow researchers. May 2012 be a happy, productive, and profitable year for you all.

In the 16 December 1897 issue (Vol. 2, No. 20) of The Tallulah Falls Spray, the Wolf Creek correspondent cautions his fellow readers.

Christmas is coming. You may look[?] out—the serenaders will be around till you can’t rest; the Christmas bells will ring. Look careful; they will be here before you know it.

* * * * *

Quotation excerpted from my upcoming volume Rabun County, Georgia, Newspapers, 1894 – 1899, expected to be released in 2012.

Notice.

We have bought a complete stock of Christmas novelties, comprising a nice line of Chinese and Japanese dolls, toys, Christmas cards, etc., which we will sell at a sacrifice. We have a few dozen taffeta and serge silk umbrellas for 50 cents each worth two dollars. Also a line of overcoats for $2.25 and $2.50 worth three times that amount. Buy before they are gone. Taylor & Sweet.

I wonder how many boys and girls found Taylor & Sweet goodies in their stocking that Christmas?

* * * * *

Quotation excerpted from my upcoming volume Rabun County, Georgia, Newspapers, 1894 – 1899, expected to be released in 2012.

These closings have affected a large number of genealogists, historians, lawyers, and other professionals across not only Georgia but other states as well. I have personally felt the sting in a very sharp way: when the Archives reduced its public hours to two days a week, I was forced to cut out the bulk of my client work. The costs of travel to the Archives (which, by necessity, include an overnight stay due to the length and difficulty of the drive) for these two days, compared to previous travel during the week, increased my fees to the point that I felt they were unreasonable.

Further, these cuts have also deeply affected a project I’ve been working on for two years, a compilation of a little-known but incredibly important set of documents that would have a huge impact on early 19th century African American research in Georgia. I will not go into the lengths I’ve travelled to examine and transcribe these documents (there’s not enough room here for that!), but I will say that if the Archives closes to the public, I will not be able to continue with this project, which could be a significant source of personal future income.

Multiply my struggle by hundreds of other professionals who use the Archives and who depend upon it in order to procure a livelihood, income taxed by the state of Georgia. Imagine the number of genealogists and others who instead of spending their yearly vacation in Morrow at the Archives will now do so (and have already done so) in states where the Archives is open a full week. (Georgia’s Archives now has the “dubious disctinction” of being open to the public the least number of hours out of all state Archives.) Think of the loss of income to hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and retail stores, all of which are taxed by the state, when these researchers and others take their business elsewhere. Would the potential income to the state from these and other activities centered around the Archives not be enough to offset a good portion, if not the bulk, of its budgetary needs?

All these considerations aside, the state of Georgia has an obligation, legal and otherwise, to allow the public to review all governmental documents. If the Archives closes to the public, thousands of important documents will be lost to this review process, thus hiding the government’s activities from public oversight. All citizens should be concerned over such an act. As important is the fact that with continued cuts to its budget, the Archives may no longer be able to maintain enough staff to properly preserve the documents it is required by law to conserve.

Please take the time to write to Governor Nathan Deal and your local representative about this important issue. If the Archives’ closure has affected you in some way, please let your legislators know. If not, express your support of the Archives’ mission and importance to the citizens of this state. Ask that enough money be set aside for the Archives to remain open to the public five days per week, and that the state pay the full rent on the building where the Archives is housed. Please also take the time to write a letter of support to Secretary of State Brian Kemp. Don’t wait until after Christmas!

Find your local representative here. Gov. Deal may be reached here, and Secretary of State Kemp here.

Felix Bruce Gleason, crew member on the Little Lulu. The date written below his name on the picture reads “19-Aug-22-1944.”

Walter Weaver, crew member on the Little Lulu.

Ralph Robinson, crew member on the Little Lulu. The inscription on the bottom of the picture reads, “Born Dec. 30, 1924.”